A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab is a dark, fast-paced fantasy thriller. I originally read the 130 page preview about a month ago, and I loved it. I couldn't wait for the book to come out. Then, I got tied up with life things, but I finally managed to finish it today, and oooh boy. How did I manage to split this into more than one sitting? Stupid life. A Darker Shade of Magic follows Kell -- an antari-- through three of the four Londons. Kell is one of the two people with the ability to travel through the worlds. He is owned by the royal family of Red London (although most of the time they treat him as, and he thinks of himself as, a son). When Kell stumbles upon a piece of Black London--the London that has been closed off due to magic contamination--Kell decides to take it back to Black London. But other forces make it complicated, to say the least. Schwab's characters are fantastic. They're not all perfect people; they have flaws that put them in d...